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Young Cincinnati-area activists to participate in 'March for Our Lives'

Young Cincinnati-area activists to participate in 'March for Our Lives'

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Updated: 10:23 PM EDT Mar 22, 2018

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Young Cincinnati-area activists to participate in 'March for Our Lives'

Plans are in motion for hundreds of marches around the country on Saturday to demand action from lawmakers about gun violence in America.

In Cincinnati, it's not yet clear how many people will participate. But judging from Facebook and social media activity, the interest level is high.

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Many are keeping a close eye on the weather forecast before deciding if they'll take part.

Organizing groups, such as the Young Feminists Coalition, United We Stand and Moms Demand Action, are counting on a large turnout.

The event will start at Cincinnati City Hall at 11 on Saturday morning and include a series of speakers.

According to a media release, speakers at the march include De'Vante Montgomery, a Miami University student, Ayah al-Zubi, an Indian Hill High School student, Shriya Penmetsa, Elena Villalon, and Rasleen Krupp with the Young Feminist Coalition.Krupp is a Wyoming high school junior, one of the young faces front and center in the aftermath of the Parkland shootings.

"I am totally certain that all the change in the world as we have seen it, most of it comes from the young generation," she stated today.

At 17, she is involved and invested in bringing about change and adamant about making sure there will be ongoing effort beyond the weekend marches.

"The fact is that weapons are readily available and a lot of people who aren't going to be responsible for them get their hands on them," she said. "And that's the core issue."Whether dozens, hundreds or thousands, they will step along the sidewalks of a few city blocks to state by their sheer presence that young people are done with the status quo.

"This is their time and they know that," said Billie Mays, a community organizer who has mentored some of them and advised them about organizing Saturday's demonstration.

She feels a whole new wave of hope.

"They're really takin' the lead. You know, they're doing this. Most of them are going to be 18," Mays said.

They tell us the images of Parkland have left a profound and powerful imprint on their lives.

"We don't feel safe in our schools and we don't feel safe in our country and that's because there's too many guns," said Micah Kraus, a Walnut Hills High School senior.Those opposed to new gun restrictions tell lawmakers the emphasis is misplaced, that it needs to be on behavior not weaponry.

But, many students are advocates for more mental health resources and see Parkland as a turning point when it comes to the method used by a troubled young man.

"If lawmakers don't realize that they need to make a change after this march, they're going to have a lot of angry people on their doors and we're not going to stop until we get the change that we want," Krupp said.

Viewpoints like hers resonate with adults like Abbie Youkilis who lost a niece in the Parkland school shooting.

At least two-dozen relatives of Jamie Guttenberg will be in D.C. Saturday for a national march event.

The 14-year-old girl was among 17 killed in Parkland on Valentine's Day.

Youkilis' brother Ira will speak at a march in North Carolina. Her brother Paul will do so in New York and her mother will be at the Cincinnati City Hall event.

"Jamie's death is devastating to all of us and we don't want this to happen to another family and that's why we're out there," she told us today.

A number of Walnut Hills students will also be in the Washington crowd.

Alexis Mack said, "It's really more about how do we make this a safe environment for ourselves and how do we compromise to get the safety that we need and want?"

Another student who is going, Em Marmer said, "We're taking responsibility, we're doing what we need to do and I think this march is an amazing part of that and I think it's our step that we can take."

They will go to Washington this weekend to draw attention to what was lost last month and to what can perhaps be gained in the months to come.

"We know that there needs to be better mental health care," emphasized Youkilis. "We know that we need to harden our schools and our gathering places. But, we also know that Jamie died from a bullet wound."